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Behind the Back

Behind the Back

There’s nothing worse than someone who’s all smiles when they’re face to face with you, but then when you turn around, they stab you in the back. Well, I guess maybe there is one thing worse than that. It’s when we are that person. It’s when we do the backstabbing. Yeah, I actually think that’s […]

There’s nothing worse than someone who’s all smiles when they’re face to face with you, but then when you turn around, they stab you in the back. Well, I guess maybe there is one thing worse than that. It’s when we are that person. It’s when we do the backstabbing.

Yeah, I actually think that’s a lot worse.

When we’re on the receiving end of some backstabbing, it hurts doesn’t it? That sense of betrayal is just awful. It’s so unjust for someone to use something against you when you’re not there.

And it doesn’t have to be overt either. In my days as an IT consultant, I worked in dozens of organisations. In most of them, the politics were brutal. I’ve seen careers destroyed by subtle backstabbing – damning someone with faint praise. Quietly undermining them. Taking credit for their work. Blaming them for something that wasn’t their fault.

It’s ugly and it happens all over the place. In workplaces, in families, hey, even in churches. Sad, but true. I’m sure you’ve been on the receiving end of some good, old fashioned backstabbing.

And yet all too often, we do the very same thing to others. Gossiping behind someone’s back. Twisting the truth just that little bit in a way that drives the knife in a little further. And you know the worst thing about that?

We find it so easy to rationalise our behaviour. So easy, that we don’t think twice about doing it. There’s only one word for that … disgusting. Well, I can think of a few others too, but let’s not go there.

Here’s a bit of godly wisdom that speaks right into all of that:

It is better to be poor and honest than to be a liar and a fool. (Proverbs 19:1)

So, the next time you’re tempted to gain some advantage by stabbing someone else in the back, the next time you think to yourself, “No one will notice” – might I suggest that you remember this: God will notice.

He has never stabbed you in the back. In fact, quite the opposite, He took the nails, He took the suffering on Himself, that you and I deserved. That’s completely the opposite of backstabbing – and it’s not such a bad model to follow.

What we say behind someone’s back – good or bad – is really, really important. Really.